The new siding is going on.

When we started to remodel the kitchen, we ran into a lot of foundation problems. This forced us to completely remove the exterior kitchen wall and all of the siding.

Siding started to go up. We opted to go with a thicker board. Eventually the whole house will be re-sided, so it was nice to start here & see what we'd be looking at.

Looks awesome!! It just needs some paint & we're good to go. 

Beautiful Fall.

The beauty of Fall on this property is incredible. 

& even though we have enough leaves to make any child the happiest ever, I love it. I love how they look around the house and I love seeing the dogs run through them. Especially Maggie, since she's just about too small to walk through. 

I know all the falling leaves means that Winter will soon be here, but I'm going to soak this beautiful weather up as much as I can!

Painting and putting in all the electric

As the last of the kitchen wraps up, this is when I get really antsy. It's that whole "so close but so far away" mentality. I'm ready to put our lives back together. I'm ready to actually be able to cook. I'm ready to put everything away that is taking over our dining room table. I'm ready to be able to just clean up the space. The dust and dirt and paint that's everywhere - I'm ready for it to be gone.

but look how cute it is? The tile has all been grouted and is finished. The faucet is in. 

I can't wait to put plants on the ledge!!

So this weekend T and I did as much as we could in the kitchen by ourselves. Basically, we painted. We painted the entryway and the rest of the spots in the kitchen that needed to be finished. It was honestly nice because it was a couple hours spent moving forward. & sometimes thats what you need to be at peace with a home renovation that you want to be over. 

Supplies: Cut in brush. Tape. Owl mug filled with tea.

I don't know why I bought tape. I never use tape. Ever. I love the cutting in part of painting. I go reallllllly slowwwww and honestly, I don't mess it up hardly ever. I have the patience for it. It takes forever but it's a weird calming thing for me. I really enjoy it. 

The spaces that need painting:

Both sides of the wall in the dining room (since the space was brought in a bit and framing was redone, as well as mudding and sanding on the wall) & also the entryway. 

It's not that much in the kitchen. but it is all cutting in. When you have this small of an area to cover with paint, it's so easy to screw up a line and make the entire room look terrible. & again, if you do it right, it goes really slow. but I'd rather it be done right & not have paint all over the walls. 

Finished paint job (sorry for the poor lighting):

& onto the electric! This is the part I'm ready for the most! Once you see all the plugs go in and the outlets on there's this sigh of "we're almost there". Also I want to start littering the countertop with appliances and start doing the dishes in the sink.

Materials:

Entryway light & over the sink pendant light

Ta-Da!! Plugs are in, lights are in. One more thing checked off the list. 

One more day down.

Our first fire & a refurbished radiator

Work on the kitchen is getting there. 

In the mean time our focus has been getting some heat in the house. 

Currently we have none. You read that right. No heat. 

I know some of you are thinking "What?! This is Michigan! It might snow tomorrow!". We know. & for the most part heated blankets at night are doing the job. However now the fall cold is starting to set in & there's a chill in the air that no heated blanket can completely get rid of.

 I feel like the dogs are looking at us thinking "OK, we've had enough".

So first things we're first this weekend: get a fire going in that gorgeous fireplace of ours. It's been over a year (so weird to say that) since I had the fireplace completely redone so it could be functional. Now it was time to put it to the test! It passed with flying colors. Although I was on standby with a bucket of water.

We had to use a starter log and make sure the draft was right and that everything went UP the chimney instead of into the house. Once it was started it was so cozy! 

Being able to watch the Lions & enjoy the warmth of the fire was amazing. 

We had an old radiator we received from my brother in law stripped down and re-finished. I have no idea how I didn't take photos of the radiator before anything was done to it but I didn't. I did however take photos of the first stage of clean up and the finished product. 

After the first stage of sandblasting and powder coating:

isn't it just gorgeous? I love the detail. 

The finished product! (currently wrapped until it can be installed)

Again  - love the detail on it!! The white coat makes it look amazing. 

I can't get over how gorgeous this thing is. It will go in the corner of the dining room, directly next to the door wall and against the wall. It's going to look amazing. 

This is just a perfect piece for the farmhouse. I will take some more photos when it's moved into place. It's made completely of cast iron and weighs such an incredible amount of weight - it might take a few of us to get it where it needs to be! 

Crossing our fingers for heat this week. 

Beautiful subway tile

I think I will be quite depressed when work is all done and I don't get to come home and get all excited to see things happening in the kitchen. I love these little surprises!!

DAY ONE:

The subway tile looks phenomenal. It really brings everything together. Big thank you to my brother in law for donating the tile he wasn't using on his place. Huge help! 

DAY TWO:

I mean, its gorgeous. We love it. It has to be all grouted and cleaned up. Tomorrow cabinet doors and drawers will go in and Saturday the electric will be finished. 

We had old butcher block hanging out from years ago. We have always wanted to use it and the kitchen was the perfect opportunity to do so.  We had one long piece that we had to cut down to size.

Then it was sanded and finished to protect from the elements. 

Counter top area before:

Counter top area after:

So pretty! Love being able to re-use materials we already had. 

& yes, the painting has started. There will be color there, above and around the doorway, above and around the window sink and above the subway tile near the over/range hood.

So all you "the kitchen is SO WHITE" folks out there - there will be a little color! ;)

It's coming together!!